April 18, 2011
Health Sciences Campus, Kochi
 

What is Nanotechnology?
 

Some might say it’s our hope for the future.
 

The tiny science scaled down to one-billionth of a meter (imagine dividing a meter into one billion pieces), has big potential.
 

Consider the 884 million people in the world who live without clean water. Or the estimated 925 million who suffer from hunger. Nanotechnology may well provide solutions to problems such as these.
 

In fact, nanotechnology is being researched today to tackle some of the most critical problems facing humanity.
 

Renewable clean energy, clean water, agriculture, healing and preserving the environment are just some among the many areas where nanotechnology is being applied. The potential for nanotechnology is so great that it almost seems like something straight out of a science fiction novel.
 

But it’s not fiction. It’s reality.
 

Making nanotechnology a reality in India and across the globe, the Amrita Center for Nanosciences (ACNS) is now a world-renowned pioneer.
 

Amrita’s progressive research in tissue engineering, stem cells and solar photovoltaic cells has attracted nano enthusiasts from around the world. That keen interest led to the creation of the Indo-US Exchange Program.
 

This summer, Praveen and Giridharan, Ph.D. students at ACNS, will travel to the US, to conduct research in such premier universities as Stanford and Rice. Their colleague Nitya will travel to the University of Connecticut, Health Centre.
 

The students will spend three months in the respective U.S. universities, learning different perspectives and approaches, and integrating with the ongoing research activities there.
 

This two-way Indo-US Exchange Program is also paving the way for many students from US universities to come to Amrita for research and study.
 

In the past months, Patrick from Stanford University completed his dissertation work at Amrita, while Erica from Rice University, who just arrived, will conduct her research until June.
 

The exchange program is beginning to facilitate faculty mobility as well. In March, Dr. Tony Mikos, Distinguished Professor at Rice University was at Amrita for one week, conducting a graduate seminar for ACNS students.
 

“We expect this interaction to lead to a lot of collaborative research,” optimistically stated Dr. Shantikumar Nair, Director, ACNS.